Question
Updated on
3 February
- Spanish (Colombia)
-
English (US)
-
French (France)
Question about English (US)
Speak English vs. Speak IN English. Any difference?
Speak English vs. Speak IN English. Any difference?
Answers
When you "disagree" with an answer
The owner of it will not be notified.
Only the user who asked this question will see who disagreed with this answer.
Read more comments
- English (US)
The preposition "IN" isn't used with "Speak + a foreign language." We say "I speak English, Japanese, French, Italian." YOu can use "IN" with other verbs + English, however. Example: Expressing myself in English is difficult. Talking about this in English is going to be hard." "Describing myself in English wasn't so difficult."
Highly-rated answerer
- English (UK)
- English (US)
"speak in English" is not unknown, but "speak English" is much more common
In the Corpus of Contemporary American English they have 59 and 3298 examples respectively.
Sometimes people might intend a difference in meaning:
1 Does he speak English? = Can he speak English?
2 Does he speak in English? = Is English the language he uses?
Sentence 1 can be understood with both meanings, but sentence 2 is not a question about ability..
Examples
You have to be my interpreter because I'm going to speak in English.
Her daughter did not speak English, so we had to speak in Greek.
Most Ukrainians speak Russian and Ukrainian, but these days many choose to speak in Ukrainian and not in Russian.
but also OK:
You have to be my interpreter because I'm going to speak English.
At the link below you can see how often they are found in literature over the years
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=s...
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
- Spanish (Colombia) Near fluent
There is not really much difference. It’s like saying, Habla inglés, el habla inglés, habla en inglés, el habla en inglés. It is the same really but I believe speak in English would be considered more proper. I speak English, hablo esta idioma. I speak in English, hablo en esta idioma. I hope this is helpful.
[News] Hey you! The one learning a language!
Do you know how to improve your language skills❓ All you have to do is have your writing corrected by a native speaker!
With HiNative, you can have your writing corrected by native speakers for free ✍️✨.
With HiNative, you can have your writing corrected by native speakers for free ✍️✨.
Sign up
Recommended Questions
- what is correct? Where are you study? Or Where do you study? Thank you.
- Can I say "Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!" in the meaning of "Enjoy the rest of the weeken...
- is there a phrase "how's your life going" or "how's life going" in Englis?
- Mission complete! or Mission completed! Which one is correct?
- 日本語を人に教えてあげるときに 丁寧に話す時 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 日常会話で話す時 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX と書きたいです。 「丁寧に話す時」...
Topic Questions
- Is this sentence correct? How natural is it? Eddie look and point at Mark like “play another sol...
- Is this sentence correct? How natural is it? Eddie look and point at Mark like: “Play another so...
- i don't know if in the sentence below the second part is talking about sth in the past that didn...
- I'm going shopping. I'll not be very long. Does that sound natural ❔?
- I can talk now, it's green zone Does this sound natural?
Newest Questions
- Accidentally she ran into on him and he thought she was hitting on him. Does this sound natural?
- Inches, what are they equivalent to? I know centimetres, meters, mm… but where are inches origina...
- Is this sentence correct? How natural is it? Eddie look and point at Mark like “play another sol...
- Everybody is affected by the excitement of a carnival. UP It's impossible not............ in the ...
- Is this sentence correct? How natural is it? Eddie look and point at Mark like: “Play another so...
Previous question/ Next question
What’s this symbol?
The Language Level symbol shows a user's proficiency in the languages they're interested in. Setting your Language Level helps other users provide you with answers that aren't too complex or too simple.
-
Beginner
Has difficulty understanding even short answers in this language.
-
Beginner-Intermediate
Can ask simple questions and can understand simple answers.
-
Intermediate
Can ask all types of general questions and can understand longer answers.
-
Advanced
Can understand long, complex answers.
Sign up for premium, and you can play other user's audio/video answers.
What are gifts?
Show your appreciation in a way that likes and stamps can't.
By sending a gift to someone, they will be more likely to answer your questions again!
If you post a question after sending a gift to someone, your question will be displayed in a special section on that person’s feed.
Tired of searching? HiNative can help you find that answer you're looking for.
